You, Me, and Everyone Else
by nailpolishedheart
Summary: AU High School. Yamanaka Ino, freshman Konoha High cheerleader. The only girl who realizes that the Uchihas don't swing for the ladies, that Sasori is cheating on his girlfriend, and that loudmouth Tayuya is a lot more fun than her younger sister Sakura.
1. Enter Ino

**Authors note:**

Okay So I really don't have all that much experience in the realm of fanfiction- writing, yes, but just not fanfiction. I've been inspired though, I guess, so READ AND ENJOY. This is AU, a –gasp- high school fic. Containing shounen-ai or shojo-ai if I see fit, if there's anything that bothers you then simply click the "back" button on your browser. The main character is **Yamanaka Ino**, because rarely do I see her given any real depth, and I like her character design, despite how shallow it may seem. It's set in first person in diary entries or thoughts, third person when absolutely necessary. I'm not going to list "pairings" because truthfully I haven't taken the time to think them out yet.

**Disclaimer:**

Naruto is NOT mine. None of the characters are mine unless they're marked to be mine- however I'm not a fan of OC's in other works so I'm really not planning on using any OC's in mine. Any song lyrics I happen to use or anything else copyrighted from the real world that I end up using will be cited at the end of the chapter.

**Current Music:**

Angel's Song by Ayumi Hamasaki

* * *

**You, Me, And Everyone Else Ch1**

I woke up this morning to the sound of my mother slamming her fist into my door repeatedly. Apparently I was late to work for the day- I hadn't been informed that I **had** work today, honestly. My parents own a flower shop; and yes, that means my dad owns it too, despite how feminine it might be. I work there, for below minimum wage of course, usually on Saturdays and weekdays after school when I'm not in some extracurricular activity. Before anyone starts to ask- yes, I am indeed a cheerleader. Do I really enjoy it? Well, I suppose it has its perks. I joined because Sakura- the friend of mine that I play replacement best friend to- joined. I guess you could say we have a rivalry. I also say the whole 'replacement best friend' part because really, she isn't a very decent friend. I'm only her best friend when there isn't anyone else around.

I suppose some background on life as we know it is required. I went to an extremely small elementary and middle school, located in Konoha- where I currently live and attend high school. It's the type of school that no one recognizes the name of when mentioned, and the ones who did go there rarely like to actually mention it. The kids in our class knew each other all throughout that, and even though there weren't very many of us, there were still clicks. Haruno Sakura named herself as the queen- even though she had initially been the new girl, and I had been the only one to not make fun of her sizeable forehead. Me, Yamanaka Ino, I'm a tad bit competitive- so I became a queen bee too. The only other noticeable girl in the class was Hyuuga Hinata; she's always been really really quiet. She's got loads of cash though- I don't think she likes people to know that she's rich. We were the three girls of the class, but Hinata drifted off to hang out with others one we hit third grade: Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino. Kiba I don't really understand, he's loud, clumsy, and brings his dog around with him **everywhere**. Akamaru, his dog, is uber-cute though. Shino is just… Shino. He collects bugs, and doesn't really say much at all. He just sits sunk into his hooded sweatshirts, with these dark glasses on- I don't really know why he hangs around with Kiba or Hinata. They all seem like really opposite personalities.

I think Hinata was smart to move on to less shallow, more real, people. Sakura hung around with me, and a few other girls who I really can't even remember the names of. I was a complete snot throughout all of elementary school and middle school. Really, I don't think you could find a brattier little kid. I feel terrible for the two people who ended up dealing with the brunt of my pure, unrefined, brat: Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naruto.

I can't say Sasuke didn't deserve the annoyance he got- he really is a jerk. But still, I can imagine why he'd be such a jerk, with people like me. I'll admit I thought he was really cute when we were in middle school- his attitude is a turn off though. Secretly, I really think he might be gay; he doesn't give off any flaming vibes or anything, it's just a feeling. I'd be shot in the face if I ever said that out loud. Sasuke… still is very, very, very attractive. I'm not attracted **to** him though. Sakura still is- she never stopped. I can only imagine that she's his pink haired nightmare.

Naruto… I'd apologize to him if I could. If I could bring myself to ditch my social status to get close enough to him and just say, "hey, I'm sorry I'm a bitch." The only reason he was ever made fun of was just because he was so different. I'm not even really sure what it was that made him so different… Sakura told me once that he was weird because he didn't have any parents. She didn't know the specifics of why he didn't have any parents, but people would laugh over it anyway… I still can't understand why. Sasuke's parents died when he was really young, he was raised by his older brother. It's kind of similar to Naruto's situation… I'm pretty sure Naruto has a foster father, anyway, so I still don't get why it was always so funny to make fun of him. I guess that's the point of 'making fun of' someone. There doesn't have to be a reason, the person just ends up being the unlucky scapegoat.

I'm really glad that Naruto seems happy enough to not ever kill himself or anything. I'd feel so awful- because I'd know that I was one of the people that caused it.

The only other people from our class that I can really name are Nara Shikamaru, and… I can't remember his surname, Chouji. I just called him the fat kid anyway- in my head, not to his face. It's a bad idea to say it to his face- for being the big, he really can chase you down pretty well and beat you to a pulp. Shika always sat next to me in class, but he was rarely actually awake. I do admit that sometimes I'd copy his test answers, because he's a lazy assed **genius**.

We all went to the same school, and then we all moved on to the same high school. That was when reality kicked in, and it was one hundred times harder to try to be a recognizable face. Sakura did, somehow or other- I rode along too, because for the first few months of school we both had to be each other's only friend. Everyone from our old school had gained their own cliques, but since we both were so… bitchy, for lack of better terms, to everyone, we weren't really included.

Scratch that, Shika and Chouji would nod at me in the halls, but I can't say I was ever invited into the clique that they had.

So now, here I am. I'm teetering at the very outskirts of popularity. I'm a cheerleader, I'm struggling to maintain a B average (I'm still so envious of Mr. LazyAss Prodigy), I work at a flower shop, and I have a sneaking suspicion I'm aisexual- but my locker has pictures of so called 'cute' boys, so no one questions. They all just think I'm like everyone else, and so if really pressured I just go and pull out the Uchiha card and that gives me nods of understanding.

After my mother woke me up this morning, I got dressed in uniform, splashed some water on my face, brushed my teeth, and went to work. I skipped breakfast, because I dislike eating- I just chew gum instead. During school I just drink a diet coke for lunch, and no one at my lunch table says anything. In fact, they'd be more alarmed if I went and bought a real lunch.

Work at the shop was **very** slow. The most exciting thing that I did was buff my nails. Oh, I suppose helping a senile old lady was entertaining too. I'm not really sure if she was senile or not, but she was quite the crazy old lady. She said she was from Suna- that's the next town over- and she'd kept talking about puppets, and her grandson, who didn't ever come to visit her. We'd sat and talked for a good hour, while she was trying to decide on buying yellow carnations or white lilies. I didn't ask her what the flowers were for, and she didn't really care about the meanings. It was kind of lonely once she left with her purchase- sadly enough, it was the most decent conversation I'd had all week. I wonder if I'll ever see her again. She did happen to tell me that three of her grandkids were going to be transferring to Konoha in the next few weeks. I wonder how long they'll last in the lions den.

After work I ate a few slices of bread and an orange that had been sitting on the table. I guess my parents had gone somewhere. They left a note to tell me to hang the laundry up. It isn't summer, mind you, so this didn't mean that I had to go outside and hang the laundry out on a line. This is another reality checkpoint- we don't have a dryer, just a washer. So our basement is covered in wire and clothesline, and we hang our clothes to dry down there. The concrete floor was extremely cold on my bare feet, and it didn't help that I had to freeze my hands while hanging up my father's cold, wet, boxer shorts. The phone started ringing off the hook while I was knee deep in damp T-shirts and jeans, and there was no way in hell I was going to run upstairs to get it. We had an answering machine for a reason.


	2. Nail Polish Revelations

**Authors note:**

Second chapter spawned by TWO reviews, thanks to those reviewers. The title changed because… well. The other one was LAME. The current title is from a movie that I watched a few months ago…. One of those obscure ones produced by MTV or something. I like obscure films.

In this chap I'll actually switch to a non-ino POV, and maybe switch back to Ino POV or not. It just depends on how I roll with it. Sometimes 1st person just doesn't get the effect I want, so I switch to 3rd.

**Disclaimer:**

Naruto is NOT mine. None of the characters are mine unless they're marked to be mine- however I'm not a fan of OC's in other works so I'm really not planning on using any OC's in mine. Any song lyrics I happen to use or anything else copyrighted from the real world that I end up using will be cited at the end of the chapter.

**Current Music:**

U+Ur Hand by Pink, and then a bit later it changed to Braille by Regina Spektor

**You, Me, and Everyone Else Ch2**

* * *

"Deidara."

Did I forget to mention I had a brother?

"Deidara."

I had to wait for about five minutes before it registered in my older sibling's head that I was standing in his doorway with a telephone in my hand. He was sitting in his bed, his blanket drawn up over his head like it was a cloak, staring intently at the television screen across the room from him- xbox controller in hand. Judging from the noise, I think it was Halo that he was playing.

"DEI. DARA. PHONE."

My patience really only lasted so long. I whipped the cordless phone at his head, and watched as it hit dead on with a satisfying hollow noise. I don't think my brother has ever been…. Completely there. I love him and all, but really, we were hit by opposite ends of the genepool, with the exception of us both having blonde hair. His was a bit darker than mine, and… it was longer, sadly.

Dei picked up the phone, hitting the pause button.

"Yeah?"

Oh believe me, we all get used to hearing that. Before he spoke anymore, he moved the speaker away from his mouth to shoo me away.

"Ino, go… do something. Leave me alone, yeah."

I stuck my tongue out at him,

"Tell Sa-so-riiiiiiiiii that I say hi!"

I skipped away as Dei flipped his middle finger at my back. It was cute.

I really shouldn't poke fun of him like that- because he isn't dating Sasori, because Sasori is dating Yakumo. Yakumo is… creepy. She paints, and she's like a prodigy, but she really scares me. She wears a bandanna over her red hair, and puts a green bobby pin on the side of it to keep it in place, her jeans are always ripped and she wears black or white tank tops with unbuttoned flannel shirts over them. She doesn't talk much, and lives with Kurenai Sensei, the advanced math teacher, and Asuma Sensei. Asuma is my, Chouji, and Shika's advisor. He's supposed to sit and make sure our grades are going okay and have occasional check-ins, and he also watches over the art classes at school.

I don't know how Yakumo ended up with Sasori… I guess Sasori is strange in his own right, considering he's friends with Dei and their whole group. They really aren't at the top of popularity, but they aren't at complete losership- because they couldn't ever be far from the top. They have Uchiha Itachi, Sasuke's brother, to keep their status high.

I finished hanging up the laundry in the basement, and finally decided to take a shower. My shampoo smells like mint and almonds, as does my body wash and matching body spritz. It was a birthday present from…. Someone… Is it bad if I can't really remember who gave it to me? When I was done showering, I combed out my hair while waiting for the mirrors to de-fog. I was still waiting for them to clear when I went and switched on the cd player in the living room, and turned the volume up loud enough that it could be heard through the whole house. I instinctively heard Deidara slam his door shut through the music. I smiled to myself while singing along with the chorus of the song, flouncing back to the bathroom.

_I'm not here for your entertainment_

I tried and failed to get my short hair into a ponytail. I never wanted to cut it- but, guess who harassed me until I did? I don't even need to say anything other than "pink hair."

_You don't really want to mess with me tonight_

I fluffed it up a bit with volumizing product and said hell with it. I was still singing, of course, as I slapped a bit of foundation on my face.

_Just stop and take a second_

_I was fine before walked into my life_

Eyeliner, mascara, check. That was all I felt like doing, because I wasn't planning on going anywhere anyway.

_Cause you know it's over_

_Before it began_

_Keep your drink just give me the money_

I was full out dancing down the stairs, because I FELT LIKE IT. I reached the living room, and took advantage of the open space.

_Just you and your hand tonight!_

After the chorus of the song was done I walked to the kitchen, swinging my hips back and forth along with the song, and opened the fridge. I grabbed a slice of cold pizza, and was in the process of shoving that in my mouth when I heard the door open, and then slam shut. And then I realized that I wasn't alone in the living room anymore. I turned, half a slice of pizza in my mouth, music still blaring loudly. My eyes took in…. long pink hair… I almost panicked, but when the words

"Hey bitch, is the whore home?"

Came from her mouth and I squinted a bit- wasn't wearing my contacts –and saw that it was the _other_ Haruno, Tayuya. I still hadn't chewed or swallowed completely, so I forced my jaw to move and with one hand made a phone shape and held it to my ear. With my other hand I pointed upward.

Tayuya nodded, but before heading up the stairs like I was expecting, she put her hands on her hips and took a good, forced, look around. She raised an eyebrow as she looked at me: stuffing my face, wearing a black sweatshirt, blue plaid pants, no socks or shoes, my hair was wet, and I had a limited amount of makeup- oh, and the music blaring might have been pop, but it wasn't hip-hop like what was expected. It was all very suspicious, apparently. It surprised me when she gave me a sly grin and thumbs up.

"Secret's safe with me. Lemme know when you're out of the reject closet."

That one hit me and I laughed as soon as I was finished swallowing. She was right- I was a closet loser. I started to wonder what would happen if I left the safety of the in crowd. I finally remembered to close the fridge door, when I started to get a chill. My dad was going to flip out over the electric bill this month. And the heating bill.

I waved as Tayuya ran up the stairs, resuming her mission of harassing Deidara. I doubt she cared he was on the phone, and she really wouldn't care of his feelings on her bursting unannounced into his sanctuary.

**-Non Ino POV-**

Ino hit the switch on the stereo, turning it off completely. It wasn't that her mood was killed, it was just sort of… postponed. The song was still stuck in her head. It was her favorite song of the moment, it just seemed to go with everything.

She looked down at what she was wearing, and then looked at her pink painted fingernails. They were long, fake, and really made it hard to do things… Her toenails weren't painted at all, and they were neatly trimmed. She looked at her reflection in the kitchen window, grimacing at her blonde, layered hair. She left the kitchen, moving to her bedroom. She flung open her closet doors, and looking at her department store clothes, she just as soon flung the closet doors shut again. As she did… one of her nails broke.

"…It's an omen."

She bit her lip, before reaching into the top drawer of her vanity dresser. She sifted through it until she found the nail clippers, and one by one, the nails were taken care of with a satisfying click. She decided the pink color needed to go as well… pink didn't even go with her skin tone- at least, that was the excuse she told herself. The problem was… she didn't own any polish that wasn't in pastels. She bit her lip again, before her eyes landed on a family portrait situated on her desk. The solution was right in the next room; Deidara had an assortment of cosmetics.

The door to his room was open already, his privacy now being null and void thanks to the pink haired girl now yelling

"OWNED MOTHAFUCKA!"

At the TV, her fists pumped into the air in a sign of victory. The blonde girl in the doorway was confused, until Deidara looked up.

"Co-op."

Ino's mouth formed an 'o,' and she nodded. She figured that the world would end sooner than anyone would beat Deidara in any game. He looked at the screen, before looking back at his younger sister.

"What?"

His voice was pretty monotone. Usually it wasn't, but he seemed either bored, tired, or just… not feeling himself at the moment. Ino wondered briefly what the conversation he had earlier with Sasori had entailed. She wasn't going to pry- at least not in front of Tayuya. It would seem like she actually cared then.

"Dei, can I borrow your nail polish?"

Time seemed to stop as the two older teens did a double take. Deidara's eyes widened a bit.

"…Why?"

Ino rolled her eyes impatiently,

"So I can paint my nails something that isn't fluffy bunny colored," she displayed her nails as proof. The two in the room still seemed a bit taken back by the sudden request, but they soon went back to their virtual killing.

"S'over there, bring it back when you're done, yeah?" He motioned with his head to his bed side table.

Ino nodded, reaching over and opening the top drawer. She pushed aside the plastic wrapped sculpy and fimo, and pulled out a small bottle of dark purple N.Y.C nail polish. She closed the drawer, said a thanks, and walked back to her bedroom. She settled herself on her bed with her walkman CD player, popping in a Death Cab For Cutie CD. She'd bought that CD herself, and really, not many people knew that she had it. The specific track she switched to was "What Sarah Said," melancholy but she really enjoyed the piano backing. That and it was a great song- it was thought provoking.

She painted right over the pink, the darker color covering it easily. She painted each nail, even strokes of color across each one.

* * *

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* * *

Across town, the same song was being played, the speakers whispering it softly in the air in the room. Two redheads, one of them situated on the floor, paint covered hands sliding a paintbrush across a canvas- the canvas, however, wasn't a fabric canvas. It was a mirror, the wooden frame was already covered in slashes of black and red. The glass was currently the work in progress, the artist was using her hands as well as her brush to spread blocks of color across the sleek surface. The other individual, his hair unkempt and messy, was sitting in an unmade bed. The sheets tangled themselves together, as he sat with his feet on the floor and elbows on his knees. A cell phone was in his hands, and the button tones were set to silent while he clicked back through the call list. There were two numbers that came up the most, and it was tearing him apart inside to try to choose between them.

The song was set to repeat, because Yakumo said it was the song she'd been listening to when she started her work- she had to listen to it until she was done. Sasori obliged, but was wishing that it could have been any other song but that one.

* * *

12345678910

* * *

_But love is watching someone die…_

Ino whispered the words out loud, while she carefully blew on her drying nails.

_So who's going to watch you die…_

She'd thought about those lines often- and she regretted that she couldn't come up with a name.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, her parents coming home finally at around 6:00, Tayuya leaving at 10:00. It was a school night, but it wasn't like Tayuya was a person to care about something trivial like that.

* * *

**Author's Endnotes:**

sculpy: modeling clay

fimo: modeling clay

N.Y.C: a cosmetics brand

The first song lyrics were from Pink's U+Ur Hand, and the ones at the end were Death Cab For Cutie's What Sarah Said… that was sort of a given, but I figured I should state it anyway. I switched perspectives, and I'm not sure which is more fitting- if you review –which you should, it's motivating- then let me know which perspective works best, and I'll use the more popular more often. There still isn't much for plot yet, but I'm working on that… ;


	3. Morning Drive

**Authors note:**

Reviews from people really make my day… And they actually make me feel guilty if I don't update. ; It's good though, and it's nice to hear that people like what I have going here. The compliments are always nice to hear- er, read. XP

**Disclaimer:**

Naruto is NOT mine. None of the characters are mine unless they're marked to be mine- however I'm not a fan of OC's in other works so I'm really not planning on using any OC's in mine. Any song lyrics I happen to use or anything else copyrighted from the real world that I end up using will be cited at the end of the chapter.

**Current Music:**

"Catalyst" Anna Nalick You, Me, and Everyone Else Ch3

* * *

**-Ino POV-**

Okay waking up sucks. Waking up late sucks more. Not that I'd be close to being late to school, but Deidara would have to be waiting extra minutes for the bathroom. I'd slept through my alarm clock, and my parents actually didn't take the time to come tell me it was ringing, or anything. Seriously, the thing is beeping nonstop for a half-hour, and they don't think to come in and check on me? I could've died, and all they do is go and put an extra pillow over their heads to muffle the sound. It wasn't very encouraging, to say the least. Dei doesn't wake up until ten minutes to leaving, but I wake up earlier so I have time to finish my time consuming shower and cosmetic routine.

I didn't even bother to chew out my parents over not waking me, mainly because they both were still asleep. It was a long night, apparently. My parents just… aren't ever really there, I guess you could say. Dei and I had always just dealt with it, and it's never really bothered us.

I had so much product in my hair not even the strongest windstorm in the world could move it out of place, and my face was so covered I really didn't look much like myself. After about two months of being like that, I got used to it and unused to it all at the same time. I can't say I enjoyed the feeling of all of it, or the hiding away, but it's just part of what I do.

Steam billowed from the bathroom as I opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, fully dressed in a pair of black leggings with a blue miniskirt, gray legwarmers, and a pastel blue hooded sweater. I retrieved my pair of navy and white converse lowtops from my bedroom, and slid a silver ring inset with a black stone on my finger. A chunk of my blonde bangs hung over one side of my face, kind of emo, but they had volume to them and they were nicely styled… And they were blonde, and I was definitely not an emo kid, so it worked out just fine.

I shoved my white purse into my black schoolbag, and slung the messenger bag over my shoulder. I headed down to the kitchen, my parents still weren't awake yet. I took a can of diet soda out of the fridge and threw it into my bag, and for breakfast I ate half a bagel that tasted more like mint toothpaste than bagel. I'd brushed my teeth before eating it, multitasking while using the bathroom. I sat down at the kitchen table to wait for my brother, my customary ride to school. Once we hit the parking lot we separated for the rest of the day, so only the really observant noticed that we were siblings.

I heard the jingling of his keys before I actually saw him, the keys clanking together with the wallet chain hanging from his back pocket. There was a hole in the left knee of his dark jeans, and through it could be seen the top of his black boots. His pants were loose enough to cover those boots completely, so I never really could understand why he wore them… He pulled a loose black sweatshirt over his head as he entered the kitchen, afterwards taking a few seconds to fix his hair. Underneath his eyelids was a tinge of black eyeliner, just enough to be not noticeable at first glance. Dei didn't wear makeup to make a statement, he wore makeup for the same reason that I did, and for the most part in the same manner. He knew how to expertly apply the stuff to define and shadow his face, it wasn't like he just took a big black pencil and circled his eyes with it. Sometimes I was jealous of him, because at times he could be much prettier than I was.

Self-absorbed griping aside, we were both set to go. Dei pointed his keys out the window, and held down the auto-start button so that his two year old black dodge neon could pre-warm. We didn't say anything to each other, as was customary. The only sound besides the car engine outside was the gum Dei was popping in his mouth. We both stayed like that for five minutes until the car was done warming- it wasn't an uncomfortable silence, because we both were used to it. He surprised me by turning to me and asking,

"Did you eat today?"

To which I nodded my head. I hadn't eaten a lot, but I HAD eaten… the question caught me off guard. He looked at me like he could see right through me, but he didn't say anything more on it. Just waved me out the door while he picked up his pin-covered school bag on the way out. He hit the unlock button on his keys and I could hear the locks clicking as I reached the passenger door. As I opened the door and slid into the seat, Dei told me we were going to be a bit later than usual. I asked him why, and he said we had to give Sasori a ride.

"Why? Did his car break down or something?" I asked out of genuine curiosity.

He nodded his head as he slammed the car door and put the keys in the ignition.

"Yeah."

"Oh… you'd think he'd just get a ride with his girlfriend or something…" I spoke without thinking beforehand. I'll admit, it happened a lot. He didn't seem to care, at least not on the surface. Then again, it's hard to tell what Deidara is ever thinking. In fact, it's hard to tell if he's actually 'there' or zoned out in complete space cadet mode. He ran into a stop sign that way once- while I was in the car. I flipped out at him for like weeks afterwards and didn't trust his driving for like two months.

"Yakumo lives with two teachers- she doesn't have a reason to drive herself to school. She doesn't even have a permit, yeah."

We backed out of the driveway, and then it was on the road to Sasori's apartment.

**-Non-Ino POV-**

The siblings arrived in front of Sasori's apartment complex in fifteen minutes. Ino had become bored and clocked it. The large concrete building was shifty looking at best, and neither of the two really wanted to have to get out of the safety of the warm car. Deidara reached into his pocket to retrieve his phone, turning off the keylock and dialing Sasori's number. He didn't wait for him to pick up, he just used it as a warning signal and then hung up.

Sasori came to the car and opened the door, raising an eyebrow at Ino.

"I get shotgun, prep, haul ass."

She stuck her tongue out impishly but complied anyway- she got along with Sasori, and actually, she could possibly say she _liked_ him as a person. She unbuckled the seatbelt and climbed over the front seats into the back.

"So what's up Yamanakas?" Sasori yawned while slamming the door shut. Deidara flinched at the sound of the door, shifting into reverse and backing out to leave.

"Yo. Watch the doors man. They're breakable, yeah?" He kept his eyes on the road, turning down the side street in order to take the easiest route possible to the school building. Sasori waved his arm nonchalantly,

"Your car is like… brand new, Dei. It can still take abuse…"

"This is Dei, though, he ran into that stop sign already, remember? I'm surprised he's had this car as long as he has," Ino chimed in from the back seat.

Deidara glared at her through the rearview mirror. "Shut up, you'll jinx."

He pulled into a parking spot, and as they were preparing to part their separate ways, Sasori grabbed Ino by the arm. She raised an eyebrow, quickly scanning the crowd for anyone who might see her.

"My cousins are transferring today. You might like Temari, she's only a grade older than you… Gaara is in your grade. Really quiet, lots of eyeliner, goth type kid." Sasori let go of her arm, shouldering his bag. Deidara gave her a quick look,

"Don't piss Gaara off, Ino."

Ino rolled her eyes, figuring it to be exaggeration. It was ten minutes to the bell ringing, so she hurried to the girls bathroom to try to catch her crowd before they dispersed.

* * *

I Hate how short my chapters end up being… I try, I really do, but I like… loose my ambition as I go. ; 


	4. Bathroom Junkies

**Authors note:**

Woooooooo school…. Draining…. Yep.

**Disclaimer:**

Naruto is NOT mine. None of the characters are mine unless they're marked to be mine- however I'm not a fan of OC's in other works so I'm really not planning on using any OC's in mine. Any song lyrics I happen to use or anything else copyrighted from the real world that I end up using will be cited at the end of the chapter.

**Current Music:**

"By Tonight" Say Anything

* * *

**You, Me, and Everyone Else Ch4**

**-Ino POV-**

I walked into the bathroom, edging my way to the sinks. I made myself look occupied, combing fingers through the bangs in front of my face. I tuned in to the conversation of the day, which truth be told, wasn't very exciting. It was about… Sasuke, the one and only. I butted my way in to the conversation, switching the topic with one simple phrase. 

"There are transfer students coming in today. From Suna." I applied some fresh lip gloss. Sakura, in all her pink and white glory, spared me a glance.

"Hmm… I wonder what they look like. I've heard Suna is totally behind the times though. Like, their school system is really behind," She quickly sent out a round of text messages at lightning speed, her french manicured nails pounding against the buttons. "I bet they're total hicks or something. Do you know their names and grades?"

I picked at my thumbnails with my pinky fingers- bad habit of mine. My cuticles are awful from it.

"Um…One is named Kankuro, he's a grade above ours… I think there's a junior or senior, her name is Temari, and then in our grade is Gaara." I wasn't prepared at all for the reaction I got when I mentioned Gaara's name. Every girl in the bathroom was shocked into silence. There was one girl, who had actually been in here to use the bathroom- I moved out of her way so that she could reach the sink- she washed her hands and then adjusted the twin buns on the top of her head.

"Subakuno Gaara? Heard he caused some major damage in Suna," the girl- I couldn't recall her name, she wasn't someone I spent time with- reached for a paper towel. Sakura raised an eyebrow,

"'Major damage?' like what? Does that mean they're transferring because they got kicked out?"

The girl shrugged, drying her hands.

"How should I know? It was just a rumor I heard," she rolled her eyes, heading for the door. I was strangely jealous of this girl. She wasn't attached to this group of people like I was- she wasn't being played by strings. I didn't want to look like I was following her, so I didn't. I waited until the entire crowd dispersed to go to class, and then dashed to my first period.

First period was always homeroom, and my homeroom teacher was Umino Iruka. He also taught english, my second period, so I never actually had to move to switch to the next class. Not that I didn't go out in the hall for five minutes to socialize anyway, mind you. I sat down at a table in the far back- yes, we use tables not desks- next to Chouji and Shikamaru. Shika already had his head cradled on his crossed arms, and Chouji was eating a packet of cherry poptarts. He offered me one and I took it, to stop my stomach from growling.

Other students were chatting about mindless things, a few boys were throwing a paper plane back and forth. This was when I noticed her- the girl I had just met in the bathroom- sitting next to a sophmore named Lee. Lee had a raging love for Sakura, something I don't think I'll ever quite understand, and he was like a clone of the drama teacher, Gai. He also possessed the shiniest teeth I'd ever seen, the widest eyes, and the worst haircut. One of those throw the bowl-over-the-head-and-chop-away things that every man has had at least once in his life. Usually in second grade. For Lee it just never got old.

I nudged Chouji with my elbow. He didn't stop eating, but he did look at me.

"Who's the girl talking to Lee?" I motioned with my head at the unnamed girl with buns. Chouji shrugged.

"Shikamaru… Yo. Shikamaru." My horizontally disadvantaged companion slapped some crumbs from the table as he made a half-assed attempt at making conversation with Shika.

Pineapple head didn't move an inch away from his folded arms. I stuck my lower lip before letting out the "Shika-call." The Shika-call required a bit of preparation. I took a nice, deep breath, held my eyelids cracked open until my eyes watered, and-

…A hand slapped over my mouth.

"Jesus Christ Ino, not this early in the morning. The hell do you want?"

…Well that was just disappointing. Damn the sixth… er… seventh… maybe eighth… ninth… sense that Shikamaru possessed. I stuck my tounge out of my mouth and Shikamaru's hand pulled away as fast as it had come. I had an older brother. I had no reserves against the dirty tricks.

"…Hmm… Jesus Christ Ino… I don't think that one's very fitting. Although I'm flattered you consider me in such high stature."

Chouji snorted, potato chips flying across the tables. A few crumbs landed in the hair of the person in front of us. All the response I got from Shika was a blank stare. He was obviously waiting for me to ask whatever it was I was going to ask, he was too lazy to say anything other than what was absolutley necessary.

"SO who's that girl that's talking to Lee? I ran into her in the bathroom this morning and…"

I trailed off, the end of my sentence would have been 'I want to get to know her, she seems cool…' but I had managed to remember that I was in an area where I still had to pretend. Shikamaru's gaze shifted slowly to Lee and the girl, and then back to me.

"TenTen."

His head hit the table again with a hollow echo. Iruka managed to walk into the classroom at this point, and with a slap of a meter stick across his front bulletin board the class settled themselves down. Well, With the exception of Kiba scratching himself behind his ear with his foot, and Naruto picking a fight with… Sasuke…

I couldn't pay attention to Iruka, not while I was busy making mental notes of the behaviors of the Naruto and the Sasuke. I could write a huge psychology textbook on these two, I swear.

I'm the only girl in the school who's seen Sasuke Uchiha kiss a boy.

It wasn't Naruto, but it was still a boy. It wasn't like I was upset, it was more like I was intrigued. And so I am now. The Uchiha family is quite well known, but I don't think many people actually know the true lives of Itachi and Sasuke. Itachi is friends with Deidara, and he's actually pretty nice to me… but he's kind of self-destructive.

* * *

**Authors Note**

…If anyone is interested in co-writing, let me know… or if anyone wants to bounce some ideas with me let me know too… in fact, send me a message anytime. I really really need to be prodded along with a hot stick to sit down and write this stuff.


	5. Student Advisory Meetings Are Fun

**Authors note:**

Wooo I'm slow at this right now. Got a little sidetracked. Just a little. Really. Short quick update. I really have no plot bunnies coming to me or anything. I can't really remember why it was I started this story in the first place, except to give a different view of Ino because she's my favorite character... ;

**Disclaimer:**

Naruto is NOT mine. None of the characters are mine unless they're marked to be mine- however I'm not a fan of OC's in other works so I'm really not planning on using any OC's in mine. Any song lyrics I happen to use or anything else copyrighted from the real world that I end up using will be cited at the end of the chapter.

**Current Music:**

Letters To You- Finch **You, Me, and Everyone Else** **Ch5**

**-Non-Ino POV-**

11:30 am, Monday. Freshman advisory hour. Each freshman was paired with an upperclassmen, and each week they had an hour to sit and talk with each other- it was supposed to build up the school community and be inclusive to freshman.

Uchiha Sasuke flung his hood over his head while sitting across from his androgynous upper class companion. Haku was the beauty queen of the school, and more often then not, he was mistaken for a girl. Sasuke didn't think the older boy really minded all that much- really, sometimes he was spotted wearing a pink kimono-esque dress around the school. He was gayer than gay, the most super-uke you could ever find, and just between all of us, he was involved in a not-quite-legal relationship with a truly frightening man named Zabuza. Sasuke had seen the two of them once in a coffee shop. They were an extremely strange couple, to say the least.

However miserable the young Uchiha was acting, he really didn't mind Haku. In fact, he might've considered him a friend, if he let himself have any friends. He enjoyed hating everyone- especially the hyperactive Naruto. Especially. Naturally. He really really hated him. Really. He hated him in the way that he hated cookies 'n cream hershey bars.

Uchiha Sasuke ate three hershey bars a week.

It was that kind of hate.

When he wasn't mentally stabbing his older brother, he was in a glaring contest with Naruto. At the moment, his hood was up, and for good reason. Naruto was in the room, and Haku was very perceptive. All it would take would be one caught glance and Haku would be making suggestive commentary to him for the rest of the advisory hour.

"So how are we today, Sasuke-chan?" Haku drummed his manicured nails on the table. They were painted a lovely emerald green today. Sasuke's eye twitched.

"…I'm fine."

"Any homework trouble? Class trouble? Men trouble?" Haku continued his innocent drumming. Sasuke paused, coughing. He then attempted to recover himself.

"No, No, and No." He said it just a bit too quickly for Haku's taste. The older boy gained a cheshire-like grin. Delving into the Uchiha family world was always an adventure. However, Haku had slowly began avoiding the elder Uchiha, Itachi, the year before. It wasn't public knowledge, but Itachi had a certain relationship with a certain someone, a certain someone that you either hated or just generally disliked. Haku was more on the 'disturbed' side, finding Itachi's chosen partner… well, creepy. It did serve to tell Haku that the Uchiha family had a gay gene, however. Two beautiful male prodigies, both of them surrounded by females at every waking second, both of them not too far away on the scale from Haku himself.

"So, who is it? Hmm?" The effeminate student giggled behind an upraised hand.

"I don't see how this has to do with academics." Sasuke kept his voice monotonous.

"It has EVERYTHING to do with academics, Sasuke-chan!" Haku slammed a fist down to the table enthusiastically. His eyes glittered with an excitement that was attention catching. Half the class turned to look, before being swatted back to attention by their advisors. Ino popped her chewing gum loudly, leaning back in her chair to look at the Uchiha. Shikamaru snorted, while their advisors, Ino's an unremarkable older girl, Shikamaru's none other than Tayuya, rolled their eyes. Tayuya the pink horror whispered something in Shikamaru's ear, causing the boy's eyes to widen. Chouji was continueing to eat a bag of cheetos, his own advisor, Jiroubu, stealing a few of them every few minutes.

Sasuke was quite obviously turning red. Haku was stepping over the boundary lines, bringing up the relationship status of Sasuke in front of a large group of people. The younger of the pair began stuttering,

"I-I-...I don't know what you're on today, Haku, maybe you should head down to the nurse to get that checked out." Sasuke gave a steely glare to the rest of his classmates, one ended up being directed at Ino especially, although she couldn't fathom why. It wasn't like she'd meant to stare at him- she stuck her tounge out in return, pulling down on the skin under on of her eyes at the same time.

Sasuke's glare intensified.

Ino gave him a peace sign. Her student advisor drawled on about something about her math grade, and something else about career and college choices. It was the last thing Ino wanted to think about.

**-Ino POV-**

My advisor is SO thrilled to talk to me. I can tell. Granted, it's not like I'm paying much attention to her, but she could at least ask me about my day or something. I'm jealous of Shika, actually. I'd much rather talk to Tayuya. But actually, now that I remember correctly, I'm not supposed to talk to Tayuya during the school day. It goes against my reputation and hers. Wouldn't want to upset the balance by exchanging some BS now, would we? Tayuya has some weird friends, anyway. I don't really like being around them. It's hard enough whenever I end up with Akatsuki meetings at my house, but if Tayuya ever stops by with her clique, it's just a little awkward. There's just one guy in that group that stares at me- he's kinda gross. And spidery. He just reminds me a lot of a spider, and seriously, I don't think this guy blinks. I suppose the big guy of the group isn't too bad, he seems like a really nice guy, always telling Tayuya to stop swearing... funny thought right there, Tayuya stopping swearing. I think what she whispered to Shika was something along the lines of "Uchiha queer gene's getting it's ass in gear."

I try not to pay attention to the screaming fact of the Uchiha gayness. I don't have anything wrong with it- to each to their own, right? But I will admit that Itachi is much hotter than Sasuke is. Hands down. But Itachi just gets creepier and creepier... this guy he's dating, or maybe he's even ENGAGED to this guy, I don't even really know, I just listen to my brother talk about it once in a while with Sasori, anyway this guy is crazy in the head. It makes me think that maybe Itachi is that way too. I wonder what Sasuke thinks of it though.


	6. Mildred

**Authors note:**

It's amazing what reviews can do for me. Like man. It was this one person, and they reviewed after I hadn't updated since February, and then I felt REALLY bad for not updating, cause I totally thought people forgot about this. But then I was like... yeah that's not cool, cause I know when I read things and then people ditch them I get really pissed because I never got to see things to the end...

**Disclaimer:**

Naruto is NOT mine. None of the characters are mine unless they're marked to be mine- however I'm not a fan of OC's in other works so I'm really not planning on using any OC's in mine. Any song lyrics I happen to use or anything else copyrighted from the real world that I end up using will be cited at the end of the chapter.

**You, Me, and Everyone Else** **Ch6** _Cruise control distressed her._ _Kinda cursed and kinda blessed her._ _Engine runnin' on the fumes._ _Vision blue and blurry._ _Fallen angels in a flurry_ _Spinnin' through the empty room._ _Did you come here to dance?_ _What's in your glass?_ _Do you feel better now?_ _Let it rain, let it pour..._ _-Let It Rain- Ok Go_

**-Ino POV-**

Trees. Trees. Trees. More trees. I don't know why I trust Dei's driving or general sense of direction. I have to admit, this is the first time he's managed to take a 'scenic route' back home from school. I can't say there was anything more eventful to the day. I hate describing things that don't matter. I suppose it did matter, but really, it didn't. I sat next to Sakura at the lunch table again. I don't know why I do. I come back feeling worse about myself. The end of the day today, the squad practice, makes me feel like I never want to go back to Konoha High. Dei isn't asking me any questions about my day; I'm staring daggers through the windshield.

I've been told it isn't good to keep things bottled up inside. But I don't think there's anyone who would listen if I started spewing things at them- I don't really think Deidara has the attention capacity to keep track of the things I say.

Backing up. Back to lunch hour. I said it was worthless, but maybe it wasn't. Maybe it was another part of my skull cracking to pieces. The group I'd been a part of for so long, and I'm finally starting again to realize who they are- but I can't realize why I continue to stay with them. I envy TenTen, the girl with the twin buns, who seems so much smarter and better and so much more... real.

I suck at this staying on topic thing. Lunch hour. I ate nothing. I can't eat in front of them. I can't.

Dei slammed on the breaks in front of the garage. He was so close to hitting the closed garage door- I jolted forward in my seat, the seatbelt cutting off the circulation to my neck.

"That was smooth, braindead." I snapped at him as I unbuckled and launched myself out of the deadly car as fast as possible. The car wasn't deadly of itself. Only when Dei was behind the wheel. He ran his hands through his blonde hair, a grin on his face.

"It was just artful, dear sister, yeah?" He slammed the car door, and locked it up with the battery powered keychain on his key ring. The lights flashed, and the car made it's little... door locking 'click-click!' noise that it makes. I stuck my tounge out at him, and threw my math book at his head. He dodged. My book landed on the ground.

I sighed, while my wonderful brother laughed and made his dash into the house. I bent down to retrieve my fallen textbook, and as I did so, my back pocket vibrated. I jolted upright, patted around my rear pockets for my phone, for the moment forgetting the god awful math book sitting in the gravel of our driveway. I looked at the ID, and it didn't surprise me at all to see who it was that was calling. It was Sakura. I didn't want to answer. But I did anyway.

"Hello?"

"Yeah, so, what was your deal today?" She sounded pissed. I glanced upward. The sky... it was closing in on me. Or actually, it was just getting really, really, really, grey and cloudy.

"What do you mean?" I knew what she meant. But what else are you supposed to say in that situation? Why, yes, I did happen to purposefully piss you off beyond belief, I apologize for my 'deal.'

"Shut up, you know what I'm talking about. You practically ignore me at lunch, you didn't answer my text in bio, and then at practice, like, you usually aren't the greatest, but today you just sucked it up big time. And then I see you like, flirting across the room with Sasuke-Kun, during peer advisory, and like, _my sister _came by, and then handed you something like it was some big secret you had? Since when do you talk to Tayuya? She's just a loudmouthed whore. Are you turning into a lesbian, Ino?" I could hear her sticking her fake nails into her mouth, chewing them. My hand was clenching harder and harder around the plastic of my phone. I didn't say anything. I _didn't want _to say anything. I didn't know what to say.

"Well?" Sakura's voice hit an annoyed key. Not that it didn't sound annoyed the whole time, but at least it hadn't sounded like a cat that'd just discovered someone pissed on their front door, like it did now

The sky decided it was pissed off at me too. And so. It peed all over me.

People tell their little kids things like it's angels watering plants and shit like that, but no. If anything, it's totally god taking a piss on the world. Because we're a pathetic little species. Like in an ant farm. We're the ants in the ant farm, that higher beings pour their undrinkable kool-aid into to see how long it takes us to drown.

So now I was hanging by a thread of sanity, my math book being slowly sucked into a pool of forming mud from the sudden downpour, my hair was sticking to my face, my WHITE t-shirt I'd changed into after squad hell practice was doing it's job of making me a porn star for the whole neighborhood, the breathing from the other end of the phone prompted a reply. I tried so hard to keep my voice level. I really did.

"...Sure. Yes. I'm madly in love with your sister, we do things in the utility closet at school. I'm having her baby." My voice dripped with more sarcasm than it ever did in my entire life. Which is saying something, because come on, I live with Dei.

"How mature of you, really now. Just stop being so bitchy and come over to my house, so we can have a movie night with the rest of the squad." Somehow, her blowing over of the ordeal just made me angrier.

"No. I don't WANT to hang out with you and watch movies, and watch you all sit around and eat ice cream and oreos, and talk about your latest sex stories and gossip about all of the rejects of the school."

She seemed to not get the hint.

"Why are you so mad at me? What did I do?" I couldn't tell if her concern was genuine or not.

I hung up the phone. And then I flung it into the ditch, which was quickly filling up with water. My parents would be mad over it later. Because they paid for it. No matter. I picked up my book, finally, and it was soaked. The pages were starting to warp. Somehow, I know this happened to Dei before...

Defeated, I walked inside. I was dripping water everywhere as I trudged up the stairs to my bedroom. I passed by Dei's open door, where he was touching up his fingernails with the purple polish I'd borrowed earlier. I stopped for a minute, and just stared at him, the carpet under me growing a darker color from the water dripping from me.

He stared right back, his hand in mid paint stroke. It was one of those sibling understanding moments, where you don't have to say anything, but you both know what's going through each others heads. I walked to my room, locked the door behind me, and stripped out of my dripping clothes. I couldn't help but stand in front of my full length mirror, completely naked, just staring at myself. Dei looks at me all the time, he looked at me for so long when I stood in his doorway, because he thinks I don't eat enough. He thinks I have a problem. I wiped the makeup from my face with one hand, and let my hair down with the other. I grabbed for a pair of boxers on the floor, throwing those on. They were dark red plaid. And comfy. That's what I was caring about right now. I grabbed a white cami top, one of the ones with the 'built in shelf bra!' that never actually works if you have a decent sized chest, but I wasn't really caring at this point if I stretched this shirt out to the point that it looked like I was going to fall right out at any given moment.

And then.

I put on a pair of white stretch socks. Because my feet got cold. Wrapping myself in a knitted blanket off of my bed, I sulked out of the room and into Deidara's. I didn't feel like moping around by myself. I sat down next to him, with a loud sigh. He patted my head.

"Blow dry your schoolwork." He turned on his TV, and started flipping through channels.

"Huh?" I looked up, slightly confused.

"Your book. Fell in that puddle, yeah? Use the blow dryer. Not for too long though, or it might catch on fire." I KNEW that he'd done something like that before.

"...Can't I just let it air dry?" I pleaded, hopefully. I didn't want to sit and blow dry a book for the next hour. Dei shrugged.

"The pages might stick together, yeah." I frowned. He laughed.

"...I don't care." I crossed my arms in front of me. I'm not sure what I thought pouting would do for me, but it sure made me feel better. Dei glanced at his clock at his bedside.

"Sasori will be here in like 20 minutes. I'm gonna go pick up some food." He got up.

"Don't kill yourself while I'm gone. Mom'd be pissed. Yeah." He grinned again, and patted my head for the second time. I waited in his room for a while, until I heard his car start up and pull away.

And then I sort of inch-wormed/snail crawled back to my own room. Right across the carpeted floor, although I have to admit the wet spots on the carpet were a bit cold and uncomfortable to get across. I bellycrawled myself into my bedroom, keeping the door open behind me, because I was actually pretending that I was a slug, and slugs don't have arms to close doors behind them. I was kinda dillusional at this point, I think. Or maybe I was just being the actual normal, that no one else dared to do because being weird is the current trend.

It's bizarre when you don't have anything to do with yourself. And the house is so empty. It kind of feels like you're so completely alone in the world. Sometimes I wonder why my parents aren't ever around. And then I remember that we're actually on the poorer side of things, and that my parents work so much so that I can be the name brand ridden brat that I am.

From my slug's eye view, I could see right under my bed. I hadn't cleaned under there in a while. I hadn't looked in there for a while, truth be told. The first thing I saw was a stuffed pink pig. I reached out to grab it, and then rapidly clutched it to my chest. Comfort object. I inched myself around 180 degrees, still on the floor for some odd reason, it seemed perfectly okay to me at the time. I inched my way back out into the hallway, now with the addition of the plush pig.

"...I think I'll call you Mildred." Sweet jesus, have mercy on those who talk to inanimate obects.

Mildred and I made our way down the stairs- I decided to stand up and walk normally down those, because my brain kicked in and flashed off the warning signs that no, going headfirst down a staircase isn't usually a bright idea. I think I was starting to get rug burn from being on the carpet so much, too. When I got down the stairs, crumbs of food on the tiled kitchen floor started sticking to my socks. And that grossed me out. But not enough to cause me to clean off my feet. Zomebie-like, Mildred and I sloshed into the living room, where we dove face first into the couch. My legs were hanging off the side, and my upper body was planted face down right in the middle of it. Poor Mildred was suffocating at this point, so I wriggled myself forward to fit the rest of my body onto the couch, and then somehow or other twitched myself onto my side, facing the TV. I couldn't find the remote. It wasn't within arms reach.

So I decided to pioneer it and imagine pictures on the wall. With Mildred's assistance.

"Once upon a time. There was a princess. She had green hair. Because she swam in chlorine too much." I looked at Mildred's shiny black plastic eyes. "No, it wasn't because she swam in chlorine, it was because she DRANK chlorine. Chlorine ran through her VEINS. She was a MERPRINCESS, trapped in a tower of EVIL. And then. One day she died. Because she took this medicine that she thought was cough syrup for a head cold, but she realized to late that it didn't taste like the crappy cherry flavor it was supposed to, and it actually was a bottle of dechlor that people use in fish tanks. And. It killed her. Because she was made of chlorine. The end."

Mildred seemed satisfied. I was satisfied. I vaguely wondered if I was running a fever or anything.

Pretty sure I fell asleep on the couch. Or else I don't remember how Dei managed to show up right in front of me, waving a chicken drumstick in my face. You'd think there'd be nothing more that could possibly surprise me. But no. Think again. Would YOU like to wake up to a chicken leg in your face? ...Maybe if you're Chouji you'd enjoy it, but I personally don't find it very thrilling. I screamed.

And then Dei fell over.

And Sasori, god forbid that he was there, began to laugh his ass off at us both. I threw Mildred at his head. He didn't stop laughing, but he did pick her up off the ground and stare at her. I proceeded to spaz.

"GIMME BACK MILDRED!" I smacked Deidara over the head while rolling off the couch. Both boys stared at me.

"...'Mildred?'" Sasori turned the pig around to face me.

"The pig, man, the pig. It's Mildred, yeah." Dei gave a matter-of-fact nod. I nodded as well. Sasori put Mildred down, and backed away, nice and slow, his hands out in front of him as if he were expecting me to attack. I launched myself forward, grabbing the stuffed pig and going into a roll with it. And then I smacked into the corner of the island in the kitchen, and it hurt.

"...Ino, you're bleeding from your skull." Dei tapped me on the forehead while I looked up, dazed beyond reason.

"...Does she need to be hospitalized?" Sasori knelt down next to me. "How many fingers and I holding up, Ino?" He was holding up four.

"Four." Whatever stupid movie it was that made it popular to ask that question should be shot. Because it's really freaking stupid, if someone hits there head, don't ask them about your stupid effing fingers. I didn't FEEL like I was bleeding...

"Seriously. Do you have any gauze or anything around here? A band-aid?" Sasori at least was coherent and somewhat intelligent. Dei looked around, before heading to the bathroom. I could hear him rummaging around in the medicine cabinet, and then a loud "OW FUCK" and some bottles breaking (I think). Sasori didn't seem phased. Actually, I don't think I was very surprised either. Eventually, while I bled all over myself, the boy wonder emerged from bathroom land with a half-assed first aid kid the family owned. He set it in front of Sasori, and thank god that Sasori was here, because I would probably be dead at this point if he wasn't.

So then it ended up with the three of us crammed on our couch- scratch that, four of us, Mildred was still with me. She survived the collision with minor injury, there may have been some internal bleeding though, ruptured spleen I do believe. I had gauze wrapped around my forehead as I held Mildred up to Sasori's face.

"I think Mildred's spleen exploded." My voice was nice and monotone. Sasori looked over my head to Dei.

"...Okay, so what happened to you sister? She's not supposed to be acting like you, she wasn't dropped on her head as a child." Dei looked up from staring at the TV and channel surfing.

"Idunno. She got a phone call earlier and dropped her book in the rain though. Crisis, yeah?" He shrugged. Sasori raised an eyebrow and set his hand on my head.

"What was the call about?" He asked casually. Or what he thought was casually. I stared at Mildred.

"Sakura. Calling me a lesbian." I stroked Mildred's head.

"...So? It's not like that's a bad thing." Sasori took his hand off my head and set it in his lap.

"I didn't finish. She called me a lesbian and then said I was spending a lot of time with her sister so I told her Tayuya and I have hot sex in the broom closets at school." My voice still hadn't really changed it's tone. Sasori seemed slightly shocked, and then he started laughing. A lot. I punched him, as hard as I could, in the arm.

He laughed harder.

"I don't find it humorous! I'm not a lesbian! ...I think! Pretty sure! Yeah!" I finally lost my monotone. "Oh my god I just said yeah, what the hell is wrong with me?!" I fell forward off the couch, Mildred forgotten and squashed beneath me as I hit the floor. Sasori was still laughing, and Deidara had joined in at this point too.

"Well, at least we finally know she's still Ino." Deidara chuckled while Sasori wrestled him for the remote.

"I wamf bizza hud." I hadn't lifted my face off the carpeting yet.

"Say what?" I couldn't tell you which one asked the question, but it was probably Sasori because it wasn't followed by "yeah." I rolled onto my back, my legs curled up above me like a dilapidated insect.

"I said I want pizza hut." I chucked Mildred at Deidara's face. It hit him dead on, but he didn't even flinch. Really, there's something missing in that boy, and I don't know why no one else seems to notice.

"Ino, we already bought chicken. We saved you some and it's sitting on the counter, yeah." Dei shoved the stuffed pig in Sasori's face, so a resounding "et shihken" translated to "eat chicken" came from him.

"I don't want chicken, dumbasses, I want pizza hut and I want it now. Get me some freakin' pizza." I stuck out my lower lip and pouted. It probably wasn't very threatening or desperate looking, considering my dead bug pose on the floor. And the gauze wrapped around my head was probably pretty attractive too. A bombshell right here, folks.

"No, get it yourself. Just go get the phone, porker." Sasori had forcefully removed the pig from his face. He toed me in the thigh. I glared at him, rolled over, and crawled over to the cordless phone lying on the table. It took me a lot to dial in the number I had memorized, place my order for a large triple cheese with stuffed crust, and be informed I had 30 minutes to wait for it and if it wasn't here in 30 minutes or less I got it free.

I hung up the phone, and then set the timer on the stove for 30 minutes. I then went and sat back on the couch, on top of Deidara and Sasori. They'd been fighting over the remote and taking up the entire thing, so I just sat right on top of them. They weren't too happy, but the situation was resolved when they just decided to leave me alone because I was crazy and "probably PMSing" and went to Dei's room.

**Me Again: **

Yeah so that was kinda a weird place to stop. But things just stopped rolling at that point, so there we go!

I don't own pizza hut. It's an actual place. Go eat there. It's really only here because I'm on a Code Geass kick at the moment.


	7. My New Best Friend

**Authors Note:**

I know I'm slow. Deal with it. :)

Nah, I'm kidding. Apologies to all, and thanks for the reviews. I'm glad you all enjoyed chlorine princess. BTW, I'm currently obsessed with Vanity-sama's "Just Like Heroin." It's under my favorites. And it's brilliant. I adore her OCs, which is weird for me to say. XD

**Disclaimer:**

Still don't own any of Naruto. I do cosplay as Ino though.

**You, Me, And Everyone Else**

**Ch7**

_Last week I had the strangest dream_

_where everything was exactly how it seemed_

_where there was never any mystery-The Postal Service, Sleeping In_

That pizza was some grand pizza.

Would have been so much grander had it been ANY other delivery boy but Tobi. What's so bad about Tobi, you may ask? Well. It isn't that he's so much a pain in my ass as he is a pain in my ass. The kid stalks my brother. And I mean STALKS. Follows him at any opportunity, tries to dress the same, tries to talk the same, calls him Sempai even though they're the same age...

The doorbell rang with my pizza, and I was jolted awake with innate pizza sensing capability. Sasori and Deidara were still holed up in Dei's room, I could only hope they were making out or something for Dei's sake, so I had to haul myself up to answer the door myself. And there it was.

Tobi.

Tobi, with his effing stupid happy grin, with a jolly hello for me and my gauze covered forehead. I suppose the situation could have been worse. It could have been, say, Kisame, or someone else equally as full of insults for me. Or Zetsu, the crazy man who talks to himself...

I had no idea why a quarter of Akatsuki worked at pizza hut.

It might've made a normal person choose another fast food place, but considering seventy-five percent of all Akatsuki meetings happened in my basement, I guess I didn't mind. I wasn't allowed to attend most of the time, once I actually got my ass handed to me by Hidan-the-grand-priest for not leaving. I sat in on at least one meeting though. I think. Or it could've just been this one time Dei had a birthday party...

It was still some grand pizza, better after I was able to slam the door shut in Tobi's face. He sat and tried to ask me if my brother was home, and I lied and said he wasn't. Then I slammed the door in his face, and I'd say he had a disappointed look on his face but he wears that stupid mask so I wouldn't know.

I ate my pizza in relative peace, then I brushed my teeth and all that and crashed. With Mildred.

Funny how things blend together after you go to bed and then wake up. It's sort of like BAM, wake up stupid! Each morning.

I was surprised to go down to the breakfast table and see Sasori politely eating cereal next to Dei, who was deriving spiritual meaning from his Cheerios.

I pulled my pants to their original position instead of that ridden-up-the-ass syndrome that happens after sleeping, and headed for the toaster. Two pieces of butter only toast later, and I was back upstairs staring into my immense disaster area closet.

Most of the clothes really sucked. But I prevailed, slipping on a pair of slim-line straight-leg dark jeans and a baby blue Hello Kitty baby doll tee. Topped it off with a white glitter belt and black mary janes. My hair... I just... left it. I did brush it, don't get me wrong, but I didn't want to do anything with it. Locked myself in the bathroom for a good 20 minutes to do my makeup, matched my eyeshadow to my t-shirt and everything out of habit. I've worn cosmetics since the fourth grade. It's pretty gross. Shikamaru called me stupid when I first started, and so I punched him in the gut. Chouji, bless his heart, didn't have the nerve to tell me to my face that I looked like a child prostitute.

As close to perfect as I'd ever get, hack cough as if, I stood around all prepared for school waiting for my sibling and pseudo sibling. Sasori came down the stairs talking on his phone, to Yakumo I think, and Dei stumbled along after looking like a zombie. Hell if he wasn't going to still drive us to school though. While in the car, Sasori shotgun of course, he finished his phone conversation and snapped his phone shut moodily. Then he seemed to cheer up once he looked in the rear view mirror at me, except it was this sort of scary grin...

"Hey pig, my little cousin's in your class. Met him yet? Transferred in yesterday." I squirmed a bit at his tone of voice. I looked back at him.

"...Who's your cousin?" I thought immediately of what I'd heard from TenTen the other day. About Subaku No Gaara. Then I made a connection of what I'd heard from Sasori on the first day of school, about his three cousins from Suna...

"Oh, he's real sweet, Gaara." My eyes widened, and actually, I think even Dei managed a strange strangled sort of sound.

"...Uh... So... he's not..." I felt my eye twitch a bit. Sasori laughed at me.

"Straight from juvy? Hells yeah. Transferred because your school is more accommodating." Dei sighed, pulling into the parking lot.

Huh. Drive seemed so much shorter today. Maybe because there weren't any strange turns or detours...

"Go screw your girlfriend or something and stop harassing my sister." Angry. Very very angry.

Despite that it wasn't directed towards me at all, I bolted as soon as possible, and not because of the usual reason of Dei not supposed to be related to me. I knew something had been up this morning. Definitely didn't feel like getting involved today of all days though.

Why hadn't I seen the Sand transfer kids yesterday? With all the hype buzzing you would think-

ouch. I hoisted myself off the ground. Damn people standing in hallways being...people...

"Sorr-"

...Shit. Damn. Er. Shit again.

I'd never seen anyone shorter than me and more threatening than me, with eyes covered in the darkest eyeliner rings I'd ever seen in my life.

I tried the 'nervous laugh.'

"Sorry! I guess I wasn't paying attention..." My soul. Oh god my soul. I felt it being torn away from my body and being ground into a thousand pieces and for some reason I couldn't stop thinking of raccoons but he kinda looked more like a panda then a raccoon and oh god. I grit my teeth together and tried to force some semblance of a smile.

Actually he was kinda cute.

In that moody killer panda sort of way.

So there we were, Gaara and me, staring at each other, and this kid isn't even going to offer me any word, and then I feel this jolt in my back and I end up falling straight over again. And I thought I had some good ninja reflexes going on here, ninja reflexes my ass... And you know what, the fact that my forehead was sitting on top of Gaara's combat boots didn't register as much as the fact that there was someone sitting on top of me.

"UZUMAKI. I'M GOING TO KILL YOU DOBE." Sasuke?! Sasuke yelling at... Naruto... Judging from distance... I rolled over, dumping whoever had been on my back to the floor.

Bright orange deer hunting season sweatshirt. Bright yellow hair. My fists auto clenched.

"Will you watch where the hell you're going?!" I shoved him away from me on instinct, shaking my head and getting up from the floor. Again.

Lord knows why I end up in an all out floor brawl. Hallway brawl of words, and all I could bring myself to do was stand there because it was... well... interesting. Sasuke actually went and helped Naruto up, then slapped him upside the head.

Maybe Itachi dressed Sasuke that morning. Or maybe someone else did. It just definitely didn't seem very Sasuke. His pants were tighter than mine were, his shoes were black and pink checkered vans slip ons, and I'm pretty sure I owned the black Panic! At the Disco sweatshirt he was wearing. Maybe he was just sick of being asked out by girls. This was pretty desperate though. He still managed to look adorabley straight. Then again he's an Uchiha. Uchiha's always looked appealing to either gender, no matter what they did.

I forgot about panda boy until he brushed past me and everyone else really rudely. Didn't even say anything. I would've been afraid, but once you get that panda image stuck in your head, it's really hard to be afraid unless he's staring directly at you.

Back to that hallway fight that managed to be the weirdest I'd ever witnessed. There was Sasuke, and Naruto, glaring at each other as usual -except if you looked closer you'd see something else there-. Nothing was weird with that, not even Lee running by shouting:

"Today's assembly shows an entourage of youthful courage and endurance! Required grades 9-11!"

I guess maybe it seemed weird because I was actually standing around to watch it.

Sasuke's still eye candy. Queer as ever but he is damn pretty.

Then came someone else I'd managed to never see before in my life, which is saying something considering everyone around here attended the same elementary and middle school. If Sasuke's tight pants were out of the ordinary, this kid had him beat hands down. With a belly shirt. A nice six pack to go with that too. Earrings, eyeliner, straight black hair, an oversized zipper hoodie, pink converse... And this really cocky-ass smile.

"Uchiha."

I saw Sasuke open his mouth and respond, however I couldn't hear it due to another Lee announcement. This time for Spring formal.

Homecoming hadn't even passed yet.

Naruto squirmed around a bit. It kinda looked like he just had to pee really bad.

"Sai, Sasuke, just shut up..." He was hit with twin glares from the two straight as rainbow individuals.

"Shhh, Naru-chan, this is business." Sai, I'd assume that was his name because Naruto addressed him that way, pet Naruto on the head like he was a dog or something. Sasuke was starting to get twitchy, I could see. He was getting pissed.

Sai neatly sighed, dramatically wiping a hand across his forehead.

"Fine, fine, go make out in a broom closet already. Acceptance doesn't mean defeat." Naruto's jaw dropped open, and he made a few incoherent noises before I was abruptly cut off from the conversation.

Sai linked elbows with me, and pulled me down the hallway like we were the bestest friends in the world.

"Come along, Miss Beautiful," he sort of sang it to me as my feet lagged behind while he was pulling me along at a faster than normal walking speed. When he smiled I swear his eyes did that upside down 'U' that they show in anime cartoons.


End file.
